DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The “Middle East and Africa Smartwatch Market – Growth, Trends, and Forecasts (2020 – 2025)” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.

Owing to the rising penetration rates of urbanization, the demand for aesthetically appealing advanced products with the ability to better serve the consumers’ requirements, such as time schedules, multiple features in one device, has been driving the demand for smartwatches. Moreover, the enormous millennial population in the region has been adopting smartwatches due to the increased spending for their regular work hours tracking and luxury standards.

With the number of connected wearable devices in the Middle East and Africa expected to reach 46 million by 2022 (according to Cisco), the region’s wearables market is in the midst of the significant transformation. The market is witnessing a transition from fitness bands to smart wearables like watches.

It is expected that South Africa could be the next big market for smartwatches. The adoption level of wearable technology is currently low in South African households. However, this is expected to increase as the technology becomes more widespread and affordable. According to Samsung Enterprise Mobility, smartwatches and other wearables may soon move from consumer devices to valuable enterprise tools, and South African CIOs are preparing to manage and secure the wave of new enterprise technologies and is anticipated to provide massive opportunities for vendors in the forecast period.

The geriatric population suffering from numerous diseases is creating a shift in-home care toward a more precision-based personal care model. For instance, the Middle Eastern population is aging rapidly. As aging is one of the primary risk factor for cancer, the incidence and prevalence of that disease are growing among all the people in the region. According to UN figures, it is predicted that the MENA population would increase from 443 million to 654 million by 2050. It is expected that there would be almost 18 million people over the age of 60, living in the GCC by 2050, representing 25% of the total population and a significant increase in the current number.

The region’s aging population may require increasingly constant monitoring, thus, driving the demand for new smartwatches for health tracking purposes, during the forecast period. The region is witnessing demand for smartwatches for healthcare purposes. Numerous new use cases are starting to gain traction, and users are increasingly able to see the real health and fitness benefits that wearables can provide.

The recent outbreak of COVID-19 across the globe has affected various industries around the world. The shutdowns of production plants have affected the electronics industry. Companies, including Apple, Samsung, among others, have closed their production plants. It is expected that smartwatches, laptops, and other devices are expected to witness low demand in the first half of 2020. However, sales of wearables are expected to improve in the second half of the year when devices such as the Apple Watch are updated.

Key Market Trends

AMOLED is expected to Hold Major Share

  • AMOLED screens offer various benefits such as good quality display, higher cost-effectiveness, more brightness and has a much faster response time as compared to the traditional LCDs and all these benefits coupled with the screen, not requiring backlighting which saves an enormous amount of battery life is expected to augment more smartwatches adopting AMOLED screens instead of others in the region.
  • In September 2019, Apple launched its Watch Series 5, which is the first of Apple’s smartwatches to come with an always-on display, so there is no need to lift the wrist to see the time. Apple achieved this by following a particular type of screen circuitry technology with low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS), the power-efficient tech found in many top-end OLED phone backplanes (including iPhones), which essentially controls whether a pixel is on or off.
  • Amazfit X is the latest wearable from the Xiaomi-backed brand called Huami. Launched via crowdfunding platform Indiegogo, the Amazfit X has a curved display that is claimed to provide a more comfortable fit on the wrist. Notably, the Amazfit X lacks any physical buttons and relies solely on gestures performed on the AMOLED screen and the pressure-sensitive side to navigate the user-interface. Huami offers the shipping for the Amazfit X in the middle east region with an estimated shipping target of August 2020.
  • In particular, the smartwatch market is witnessing the increasing adoption of AMOLED due to its various benefits. For instance, in February 2020, a smartwatch was launched called the YHE BP Doctor that can measure blood pressure, along with oxygen saturation levels and heart rate variability. All this functionality should make it capable of providing valuable information about one’s health. The YHE BP Doctor has a 1.4-inch AMOLED touchscreen, which has a 320 x 360 native resolution.

Competitive Landscape

The Middle East and Africa Smart Watch market is quite competitive. Various international brands tend to keep launching new products, offering advanced technologies to gain a foothold in the region. However, in terms of market share, players such as Apple and Samsung occupy a significant portion, and players such as Huawei continue to disrupt the market share of Apple and Samsung in the region.

  • February 2020 – HONOR announced the launch of a brand-new smartwatch, the HONOR MagicWatch 2 in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Equipped with the HUAWEI TruSleep2.0, HUAWEI TruRelax, and HUAWEI TruSeen 3.5, the HONOR MagicWatch 2 can be users wellness advisor to help live healthier and enhance the quality of life and comes with breakthrough battery performance up to 14 days, intelligent fitness and health monitoring technologies.
  • October 2019 – Huawei Tech Investment Saudi Arabia Co. Ltd. launched the HUAWEI WATCH GT 2 during an exclusive launch event that took place in Riyadh. HUAWEI WATCH GT 2, is the company’s next-generation smartwatch, powered by the firm’s proprietary Kirin A1 chip, offering an upgraded user experience and battery life of 14 days. It also provides new wellness features that allow for hassle-free monitoring of the user’s heart rate, daily sleep, and other attributes.

Companies Mentioned

  • Apple Inc.
  • Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd
  • Garmin Ltd.
  • Fitbit Inc. (Google, Inc.)
  • Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd
  • Sonly Middle East & Africa (Sony Corporation)
  • Lenovo Group Limited
  • Amazfit (Huami Corporation)
  • LG Electronics Inc.
  • Fossil Group, Inc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/xiur6f